Droid Life » NFChttp://www.droid-life.com
An intense Android news community bringing you the latest in phones, rooting, apps, and reviews.Tue, 03 Mar 2015 19:59:11 +0000en-UShourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.1.1Samsung Buys LoopPay, is Ready to Get Serious About Mobile Paymentshttp://www.droid-life.com/2015/02/18/samsung-buys-looppay-is-ready-to-get-serious-about-mobile-payments/
http://www.droid-life.com/2015/02/18/samsung-buys-looppay-is-ready-to-get-serious-about-mobile-payments/#commentsWed, 18 Feb 2015 21:02:15 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=161760Samsung Buys LoopPay, is Ready to Get Serious About Mobile Payments is a post from: Droid Life
]]>I would be lying if I said that this surprises me, but Samsung just acquired LoopPay, a company specializing in mobile payments in a way that doesn’t require NFC or changes from retailers. The two companies were previously rumored to be working together to create a competitor to Apple Pay.

LoopPay has been on the rise as of late, thanks to its technology that is able to emulate a magnetic card swipe that happens each time you use a regular credit card at a payment terminal. The technology, at least in recent forms, starts through a case that is attached to a phone which can then be tapped to a payment terminal to finish off a transaction. The key feature of LoopPay is that it doesn’t require retailers to change out their existing hardware and works at around 90% of current pay terminals. In other words, LoopPay doesn’t need to wait for retailers around the world to swap out current hardware for NFC-equipped hardware in order to work, like Google and Apple do.

As I mentioned, LoopPay is currently a dongle or case add-on for phones, but now that Samsung owns them, you have to wonder if they will figure out a way to build the technology into phones, like the next line of Galaxy devices. No matter what, this is kind of a big deal.

According to the announcement of the acquisition, LoopPay’s founders will join Samsung’s Mobile Division to help “drive the next wave of innovation in the digital smart wallet.”

Here is a video intro on how LoopPay works.

Update: Here is an email being sent out by LoopPay.

Samsung to Acquire LoopPay, Transformative Digital Wallet Platform

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. & SEOUL, South Korea–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that it has agreed to acquire LoopPay, the acclaimed mobile wallet solutions provider that turns existing magnetic stripe readers into secure, contactless receivers. LoopPay’s technology has the potential to work in approximately 90% of existing point-of-sale (POS) terminals, according to internal research, with no investment in new infrastructure required by merchants. LoopPay will join Samsung to strengthen the company’s overall efforts to provide users with seamless, safe, and reliable mobile wallet solutions.

As part of the acquisition, LoopPay founders and veteran payment industry entrepreneurs Will Graylin and George Wallner will work closely with Samsung’s Mobile Division. LoopPay has built an advanced and widely accepted contactless payment solution using its patented Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST) technology. LoopPay’s talent and technology, paired with Samsung’s world leading mobile technology, global presence, and distribution capabilities will help drive the next wave of innovation in the digital smart wallet.

“This acquisition accelerates our vision to drive and lead innovation in the world of mobile commerce. Our goal has always been to build the smartest, most secure, user-friendly mobile wallet experience, and we are delighted to welcome LoopPay to take us closer to this goal,” said JK Shin, President and Head of IT and Mobile Division at Samsung Electronics.

Samsung has an existing relationship with LoopPay, having first identified the potential for the pioneering technology when it became a strategic investor along with Visa and Synchrony Financial. The investment, which was facilitated by Samsung’s Global Innovation Center, helped fuel LoopPay’s MST technology development.

“We are excited to take our relationship with LoopPay to the next level, by bringing consumers a mobile wallet solution that is not just safe and reliable, but also widely accepted at more locations than any competing service,” said David Eun, EVP of Samsung’s Global Innovation Center. “Through this deal we can significantly accelerate our mobile commerce efforts. LoopPay’s outstanding leaders and team have deep-rooted relationships with banks, card networks and merchants that will complement those Samsung has established over the years.”

Margaret Keane, President and CEO of Synchrony Financial, the largest provider of private label credit cards in the U.S. and a leader in promotional financing, as well as an investor in LoopPay, commented, “This is great news for our customers who can access their cards and make payments using LoopPay’s contactless MST technology. Our goal is to offer valuable products for our clients, service providers, and our customers. We look forward to working with LoopPay and others to deliver secure mobile payment solutions for all of our 60 million active accounts.”

“LoopPay is focused on delivering a digital wallet solution that is dependable for consumers around the world, one that provides more value from card issuers and the merchants that serve them,” said Will Graylin, CEO of LoopPay. “We are excited to join the Samsung family to continue our goal of making smartphones trusted, secure smart wallets and unlock the limitless possibilities of mobile enabled commerce.”

About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies, redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, cameras, digital appliances, printers, medical equipment, network systems, and semiconductor and LED solutions. We are also leading in the Internet of Things space through, among others, our Smart Home and Digital Health initiatives. We employ 307,000 people across 84 countries with annual sales of US $196 billion. To discover more, please visit our official website at www.samsung .com and our official blog at global.samsungtomorrow.com

About Samsung Global Innovation Center

The Samsung Global Innovation Center brings software and services innovation to Samsung Electronics by working with startups and entrepreneurs through investments, acquisitions, partnerships and the Samsung Accelerator. The GIC’s deep integration with Samsung consumer electronics and mobile business units provide entrepreneurs and startups with unparalleled access to Samsung resources, decision-makers, product roadmap, and the world’s largest platform for distribution. Opened in 2013, the GIC operates across offices in Mountain View, Palo Alto, New York City, and Suwon, South Korea.

About LoopPay

Founded in 2012 in Boston, MA, LoopPay is accepted at more merchants than any other digital wallet solution. LoopPay’s patented Magnetic Secure Transmission™ (MST) technology turns existing mag stripe readers into mobile contactless receivers without any changes or costs incurred by merchants or their payment processors. LoopPay’s digital wallet can store and use a wide variety of mag stripe cards including debit and credit cards, private label cards, gift cards loyalty cards and rewards cards. Access to the LoopPay app and data is password and PIN-protected and LoopPay encrypts and stores all card track data in secure memory within any LoopPay device. LoopPay is a Level One PCI Certified Payment Provider. To learn more about LoopPay, visit www.LoopPay.com.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2015/02/18/samsung-buys-looppay-is-ready-to-get-serious-about-mobile-payments/feed/25Hilarious Turn of Events: Carrier-Backed Payment System That Tried to Block Google Wallet Might be Bought by Googlehttp://www.droid-life.com/2015/01/19/google-wallet-softcard/
http://www.droid-life.com/2015/01/19/google-wallet-softcard/#commentsMon, 19 Jan 2015 16:54:53 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=159783Hilarious Turn of Events: Carrier-Backed Payment System That Tried to Block Google Wallet Might be Bought by Google is a post from: Droid Life
]]>You remember Isis Mobile Wallet don’t you? That would be the mobile payment system that carriers – specifically, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile – created to be the only payment system you would need on your phone. That would also be the payment system that carriers used as reason to help block, but not admit-to-blocking, while still blocking because it was “different,” Google Wallet, for years while they took their sweet time getting Isis ready. And let’s not forget that the service has already been renamed to Softcard because of the growing entity known for terrorism that the original name matched. All caught up on Softcard and Isis?

According to a late Friday report out of TechCrunch, the payment system has been a massive failure to this point and is now in talks with Google to potentially be acquired.

That part about it being a failure shouldn’t shock anyone since the service continued to see delays before launching nationwide out of its test markets in 2013. The service has also failed since launch to create a close partnership with Visa or MasterCard, which has made it an increasingly difficult sell to consumers and to add your preferred cards for use. Seriously, the service is pretty difficult to use.

But that part about Google potentially buying Softcard is hilarious, at least to me. Again, this is the mobile payment system that Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile created to rule them all. This is also the reason that we wrote countless posts about Google Wallet being blocked at the carrier level. There were FCC complaints about the blocking. There were denials that weren’t really denials. There were excuses given for blocking Google Wallet that were contradictory. Softcard, formerly Isis, was a massive pain point around the Android community for what seemed like years. Yet here we are, talking about Google buying them for pennies on the dollar.

According to TechCrunch, Google may be able to grab Softcard for under $100 million, even though sources tell them that the carrier team of AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile has invested hundreds of millions into the service.

Google may not care so much for the service as it does the patent applications they have filed, though. Softcard reportedly has just over 120, but those could be key to helping Google Wallet grow or remain a viable mobile payment option, an important factor as Google tries to battle with Apple’s Apple Pay.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2015/01/19/google-wallet-softcard/feed/57Samsung May Partner With LoopPay to Launch Apple Pay Competitorhttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/12/16/samsung-may-partner-with-looppay-to-launch-apple-pay-competitor/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/12/16/samsung-may-partner-with-looppay-to-launch-apple-pay-competitor/#commentsTue, 16 Dec 2014 18:10:59 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=157317Samsung May Partner With LoopPay to Launch Apple Pay Competitor is a post from: Droid Life
]]>If the store at which you are trying to buy that stick of gum has an NFC terminal, Apple Pay and Google Wallet work well enough. But if it lacks one, or is part of a competing consortium, you will have to whip out the antiquated plastic between the lint in your pocket. But that may change if Samsung has its way. According to multiple Recode sources, the Korean electronics giant is in talks with startup LoopPay, to develop a smartphone payments method of its own.

Unlike Wallet and Pay, LoopPay’s technology, which it calls magnetic secure transmission, is backwards-compatible with legacy terminals; built-in hardware transmits payment information via a small electromagnetic field, which emulates a card swipe. Because it can work in conjunction with NFC, LoopPay’s solution should in theory work at most any brick-and-mortar location which accepts debit and credit cards.

According to Recode, the licensing agreement is very tentative, but a prototype has already been produced. Should the functionality make it to market, it, much like Apple Pay, will most likely rely on an integrated fingerprint sensor for authorization. That would be unlike LoopPay’s current consumer lineup, which consists of a nondescript fob and smartphone case.

LoopPay CEO Will Graylin, may have been referring to the deal when he told Recode earlier this month that the company’s technology would be incorporated into a smartphone in 2015, but sources say the deal “could still fall apart.”

Should it come to fruition, are you excited about the prospect of S-Pay?

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/12/16/samsung-may-partner-with-looppay-to-launch-apple-pay-competitor/feed/63Retailers in US Block Apple Pay, Which Also Blocks Google Wallethttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/27/retailers-in-us-block-apple-pay-which-also-blocks-google-wallet/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/27/retailers-in-us-block-apple-pay-which-also-blocks-google-wallet/#commentsMon, 27 Oct 2014 16:02:57 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=153738Retailers in US Block Apple Pay, Which Also Blocks Google Wallet is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Over the weekend, news broke that many retailers across the US were not supporting Apple Pay, shutting down their wireless payment terminals to anyone looking to use them. Unfortunately, and apparently unknown by many, this move by retailers does not just hurt Apple Pay users, but also effects Google Wallet users as well.

While the number of Google Wallet users may not compete with the amount of people who plan to jump on the Apple Pay train, Wallet users have not been met with many issues surrounding the service until Apple announced and released their own NFC-based payment system. Now with Apple Pay released, it appears that huge retail chains, such as 7-Eleven, Walmart, and Best Buy will soon launch their very own mobile payment app, meaning that they now have motivation to simply shut out all competitors from their stores.

The list of retailers planning to launch their own payment system, called CurrentC, continues to grow, but already confirmed for it are Gap, 7-Eleven, nearly all US gas station chains, Bed Bath & Beyond, Old Navy, Wendy’s, and more.

The reason for retailers moving forward with CurrentC, is that with their own payments system, the stores can avoid all credit card processing fees.

We used to joke back when Google Wallet was still young that if Apple would hurry up and implement NFC technology, retailers would be more on board for supporting wireless payments. Thanks to Apple, retailers may have just effectively killed Google Wallet for many users across the country.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/27/retailers-in-us-block-apple-pay-which-also-blocks-google-wallet/feed/257Video: Android 5.0 Feature – Setting Up Trusted Deviceshttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/17/video-android-5-0-feature-setting-up-trusted-devices/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/17/video-android-5-0-feature-setting-up-trusted-devices/#commentsFri, 17 Oct 2014 23:28:50 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=152952Video: Android 5.0 Feature – Setting Up Trusted Devices is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Motorola has been doing this really cool thing for a couple of years now called Trusted Devices. The idea behind a trusted device is pretty simple (our tutorial on the Moto X) – when you have select Bluetooth devices paired to your phone, you can tell your phone to let you bypass a secure lock screen without having to enter a PIN, password, or pattern. It could be a watch that you wear with your phone all day, so that your phone remains mostly unlocked when with you. Or it could be your car, for example, which would allow you to skip by your lock screen security to make for easier (and safer) access while on the go. But, if you were to disconnect from those trusted devices (lose your phone at a bar), your phone would then revert back to being fully locked by that pattern, PIN, or password to protect your information. Make sense?

Google added Trusted Devices to Android 5.0 “Lollipop.” This is awesome news because it should mean that in the future, all Android phones running Android 5.0 or higher will have access to this super convenient feature.

Google takes Trusted Devices to another level by adding in NFC sticker support, as well as your face. The face stuff is basically just Face Unlock, a silly feature that allows you to unlock your phone with facial recognition. NFC stickers, on the other hand, make for an interesting use case. As you will see in the screenshot below, an example use would be putting an NFC sticker that’s “trusted” in the dock of your car, so that each time you set your phone on it while driving, the phone will remain unlocked. Pretty cool, right?

To see Trusted Devices in action on Lollipop, check out our video below.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/17/video-android-5-0-feature-setting-up-trusted-devices/feed/29Plastc Tries to Convince You Why Credit Cards are Still a Good Ideahttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/07/plastc-tries-to-convince-you-why-a-credit-cards-are-still-a-good-idea/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/07/plastc-tries-to-convince-you-why-a-credit-cards-are-still-a-good-idea/#commentsTue, 07 Oct 2014 16:30:46 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=151954Plastc Tries to Convince You Why Credit Cards are Still a Good Idea is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Apple and Google may be betting on NFC as the future of consolidated payment, but ubiquity is far from guaranteed; many, many businesses need to upgrade their point-of-sale terminals, which could take years. That is why startups like Coin have looked to capitalize on the nascent wallet-slimming trend with stop gap solutions that have been, more often than not, more trouble than they were worth.

Plastc is the newest kid on the block, and its feature list almost reads like a blow-by-blow response to Coin’s many shortcomings. It contains an e-ink touchscreen which toggles automatically via a brightness sensor and is capable of displaying your signature, photo ID, and barcodes; it has a re-writable NFC/RFID chip for use with access systems; it supports chip and pin (EMV) terminals; and it has wireless charging mat.

Impressively, Plastc plans to launch with seven partner banks – American Express, Bank of America, Chase, Charles Schwab, Citi, US Bank, and Wells Fargo – and support both iOS and Android from day one. The only problem? The company doesn’t have a functioning prototype. Oh, and the card will cost $155 and have a 30-day battery life. Ouch.

Few will deny Plastc is technically superior to Coin and other competing solutions. Chip and PIN will become standard in the United States by late next year, as millions of locations upgrade their payment terminals to avoid future liability for fraudulent purchases. A barcode display is essential for gift and loyalty card use, as is RFID for security cards. But the fact of the matter is, many people believe products like Coin and Plastc are solutions in search of a problem. The debut of Apple Pay, and Coin’s recent travails, may only strengthen those convictions.

Plastc is available for pre-order now. The company is shooting to ship the first units next summer.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/10/07/plastc-tries-to-convince-you-why-a-credit-cards-are-still-a-good-idea/feed/109Android L Features: Android Beam Now a Part of Share Menuhttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/30/android-beam-nfc-android-l/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/30/android-beam-nfc-android-l/#commentsMon, 30 Jun 2014 19:59:57 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=144379Android L Features: Android Beam Now a Part of Share Menu is a post from: Droid Life
]]>In Android L, Google has included Android Beam in the sharing menu, making it arguably easier to share items using NFC.

When you go to share an item now in the L version of Android, you will see an icon for Android Beam, along with your icons for Drive or Box or Dropbox or any other app capable of sharing. Once Android Beam has been tapped, your device will tell you to “Tap another device to complete,” which then sends the item as soon as the second device is touched.

Previously, Beam sharing had to be initiated by tapping two devices together, which then prompts the user to tap the screen to send. While this new method isn’t all that much different from that, I often found the old method awkward to tap two devices together, then press the screen to send. With this slight tweak, you now initiate the Beam by yourself, then tap devices together to complete the share, so there isn’t a last minute finger press on the screen with devices touching, if that makes sense.

If you are running Android L, give it a shot and tell us if this method is easier than the original or not.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/30/android-beam-nfc-android-l/feed/30Monday Poll: Do You Use NFC on Your Smartphone?http://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/09/monday-poll-do-you-use-nfc-on-your-smartphone/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/09/monday-poll-do-you-use-nfc-on-your-smartphone/#commentsMon, 09 Jun 2014 23:19:13 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=142592Monday Poll: Do You Use NFC on Your Smartphone? is a post from: Droid Life
]]>When first announced for Android devices, NFC was a pretty exciting feature. It allowed for tap-to-pay services to launch in stores, it brought Android Beam into existence, and allowed other devices to quickly connect to Android phones and tablets via Bluetooth with no user input needed. Times were good.

Now, in mid-2014, we find ourselves using NFC less and less. Services like Google Wallet and Isis haven’t been taking off like expected, and we find that the convenience of NFC isn’t actually worth having the feature enabled on our phones. Sure, it has its time and place, but for the most part, NFC is still kind of useless to most users.

Our question to you is, are you using NFC these days? Back in February of last year, we asked this same question, with the results not showing much love for NFC. 53% of people who answered said they did not use NFC, 33% said yes, and 14% of poll responders didn’t even have a phone with NFC built in.

It’s time to update our results. Share your experiences with NFC in the comments below, and tell us if you think there is something that could make NFC better or more desirable.

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/06/09/monday-poll-do-you-use-nfc-on-your-smartphone/feed/303Dimple is a 4-button NFC Sticker That Needs Your Fundinghttp://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/07/dimple-is-a-4-button-nfc-sticker-that-needs-your-funding/
http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/07/dimple-is-a-4-button-nfc-sticker-that-needs-your-funding/#commentsWed, 07 May 2014 15:45:44 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=139442Dimple is a 4-button NFC Sticker That Needs Your Funding is a post from: Droid Life
]]>NFC stickers, boy were those an item that never really caught on. Samsung tried them. Others too. Just don’t tell that to the folks behind the latest crowd funding campaign called Dimple, an NFC-focused project that is already 65% funded after launching yesterday.

Dimple is an NFC sticker with four physical buttons that can be attached to your NFC-enabled smartphone or tablet. Those four buttons, can be customized to do a variety of tasks, like turn on WiFi, open the camera, enable a flashlight, launch your favorite app, or even enable a Tasker task. The basics here suggest that you are looking at a multi-button NFC sticker that can do multiple tasks. But there is more.

Dimple’s software (companion app) will hopefully allow you to launch consecutive tasks or popup grid tasks, connect up to eight items per button, define what a long press would do, or potentially expand everything to 3rd party plugins. Many of those items are either in beta or still on the way, but Dimple is hoping to tackle many of those ideas.

The Dimple costs $27 in a predefined color of your choice with an estimated shipping time of August. It will work with most Android phones outside of the HTC One (M7) and One (M8). The Dimple hates metal, according to its creators.

The Dimple team is looking to raise $43,000 through Indiegogo over a 35 day period. After just one day, they are at 65% of their goal, so it’s pretty obvious that they will reach $43,000 and send you a sticker should you decide to back it.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2014/05/07/dimple-is-a-4-button-nfc-sticker-that-needs-your-funding/feed/49ISIS Mobile Wallet Opens Support for Wells Fargo Credit Card Usershttp://www.droid-life.com/2013/12/12/isis-mobile-wallet-opens-support-for-wells-fargo-credit-card-users/
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/12/12/isis-mobile-wallet-opens-support-for-wells-fargo-credit-card-users/#commentsThu, 12 Dec 2013 23:13:13 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=127185ISIS Mobile Wallet Opens Support for Wells Fargo Credit Card Users is a post from: Droid Life
]]>Isis Mobile Wallet users can now add Wells Fargo credit cards to the NFC-powered payment application, which has been growing steadily in support for various card providers. The last card to receive support was the American Express Serve card, which took place just last month. The service is still unavailable to Visa users and other banks, but with the addition of Wells Fargo, this is certainly a step in the right direction.

If you are an Isis user, and keep a Wells Fargo credit card in your wallet or purse, hit the via link below to see how you can easily add your card to the Isis application.

Do we have any real users of Isis here? If so, we would actually love to know where you use the app and what features you would like to see brought to the service.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2013/12/12/isis-mobile-wallet-opens-support-for-wells-fargo-credit-card-users/feed/54Capital One Pulls Out of Isis Mobile Wallet, Not Much Left for This Delayed Payment Systemhttp://www.droid-life.com/2013/09/19/capitol-one-pulls-out-of-isis-mobile-wallet-not-much-left-for-this-delayed-payment-system/
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/09/19/capitol-one-pulls-out-of-isis-mobile-wallet-not-much-left-for-this-delayed-payment-system/#commentsThu, 19 Sep 2013 16:17:19 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=120026Capital One Pulls Out of Isis Mobile Wallet, Not Much Left for This Delayed Payment System is a post from: Droid Life
]]>

A little over a week ago, we received the email you are seeing below, which is a statement from Capital One, informing us that they were leaving the Isis Mobile Wallet pilot test. As you all know, Isis is the mobile payment joint venture between Verizon, T-Mobile, and AT&T that is essentially the reason we all can’t enjoy Google Wallet to its fullest. They have been working on this mobile payment system for what seems like forever, only launching in two test markets last year. With semi-recent word that they had a nationwide rollout planned before the end of 2013, we thought all was well. But with news of one of their biggest credit card partners leaving, what’s left for Isis?

Well, they still have American Express and Chase, so they aren’t completely dead. But even in my short time with Isis, I found it almost worthless as they still did not offer support for my bank’s Visa or MasterCards. In other words, you can’t just add any card in your wallet. So technically, they are alive and well, it just seems like without Capital One or the ability to add bank cards, that this is another failed mobile payment system that can’t find backing from the players that truly matter. And if those three mobile carriers can’t get massive bank card acceptance on board, then who can?

On an additional note, the AT&T and T-Mobile Isis Wallet apps are no longer showing as compatible with any of my phones other than…Verizon phones. I have plenty of AT&T and T-Mo phones lying around here that are also attached to my account with NFC chips in them, so I can’t help but wonder what’s going on there. It could be nothing, or it could be a sign of trouble on the horizon.

As much as I would rather use Google Wallet, because I adore Google’s services, I was at least hoping to see Isis kickstart a mobile payment revolution. With the backing of major wireless carriers, this should have had the power to make mobile payments a part of your daily life. I guess we won’t know if that’s true until we see a nationwide rollout that hopefully includes an announcement of additional credit card partners, and not just the terrible app that is currently a part of the testing program.

Security and privacy seem to be at a minimum these days, especially in the digital world. The latest patent filed by Google for Android is an interesting one that looks to keep your phone safe depending on where you are. Motorola might be using NFC tags to “Skip” lockscreen pin and pattern codes, but Google wants to use location instead.

There are times when you want the security of a pin or pattern on your device and then other times when you just want to swipe to unlock. Google’s new patent will give your device the ability to detect where it is and change the security accordingly. If you go out for a night on the town, you might have to use your pattern, but around the safety of your house, you can just swipe. It sounds simple, but if this gets implemented into Android’s base code in the future, it could be a very smart ability.

Yes, the future has finally arrived. LG announced the NFC-equipped Lightwave DIOS oven today, allowing for your Android device to communicate wirelessly with your hot food maker. It is a convection oven, featuring 220 ways to prepare your food. It even sports an Air Fry mode which utilizes a small amount of vegetable oil, reducing fat intake by up to 77%. Thanks for looking out, LG.

LG’s Air Fryer features often cook at home fries, pork cutlet, fried shrimp, and only a small amount of vegetable oil to cook plain but can not dry. Up to 77% compared to normal frying can reduce fat intake is very beneficial to the health care of the family.

No word on when we can see the Lightwave DIOS hit the market or for how much, but we will probably keep your posted on this revolutionary kitchen product.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2013/08/19/lg-announces-nfc-equipped-oven-for-your-android-device/feed/15Google Wallet Card Reportedly on Hold, Won’t Be Shown Off at I/O Next Weekhttp://www.droid-life.com/2013/05/10/google-wallet-card-reportedly-on-hold-wont-be-shown-off-at-io-next-week/
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/05/10/google-wallet-card-reportedly-on-hold-wont-be-shown-off-at-io-next-week/#commentsFri, 10 May 2013 15:18:43 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=107814Google Wallet Card Reportedly on Hold, Won’t Be Shown Off at I/O Next Week is a post from: Droid Life
]]>

Remember the physical Google Wallet card that was first spotted back in November? Well, according to sources of AllThingsD, that project has been pushed back after CEO Larry Page received a final demo of it last week, leaving the meeting unimpressed with the “glitchy” service. From what the source states, Page wants something that presses innovation more like Square and other startups are doing currently.

Although a card is said to not be rolling out, they will be updating Wallet with new rewards, offers and loyalty points to help the service compete and stay relevant to Apple’s PassBook.

Even though this might be a step back for Google, we still wish the service was completely supported on Verizon and other carriers.

]]>http://www.droid-life.com/2013/05/10/google-wallet-card-reportedly-on-hold-wont-be-shown-off-at-io-next-week/feed/35Google Promoted To NFC’s Board of Directors With Wallet Clearly in Mindhttp://www.droid-life.com/2013/03/05/google-promoted-to-nfcs-board-of-directors-with-wallet-clearly-in-mind/
http://www.droid-life.com/2013/03/05/google-promoted-to-nfcs-board-of-directors-with-wallet-clearly-in-mind/#commentsTue, 05 Mar 2013 21:35:17 +0000http://www.droid-life.com/?p=100819Google Promoted To NFC’s Board of Directors With Wallet Clearly in Mind is a post from: Droid Life
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The NFC Forum was founded in 2004 and has companies from around the technology world working together to try to get NFC into as many hands as possible. Google joined the group in 2011 as just another member of the group, but the Forum announced today that Google is now on the Sponsor level, which gets them a spot on the board of directors.

We don’t know if Google is going to use this new position to try and push NFC into more of a household name, but it’s no secret that Google would love for NFC to become more widespread. Their Wallet application is currently unable to gain traction as a physical payment system, no thanks to carriers and card companies. Maybe they will use this position to help move things along.